


Geminids

by AndromedaSmith



Series: Starstruck: Karamel One-Shots [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Christmas, F/M, Hopeful Ending, KaramelSecretSanta2019, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21708691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndromedaSmith/pseuds/AndromedaSmith
Summary: The Karamel story doesn’t end with Mon-El returning to the future. Our heroes get some help from Winn to close out one chapter and turn the page to the next.
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Eliza Danvers & Kara Danvers, Kara Danvers & Winn Schott Jr., Kara Danvers/Mon-El, Mon-El & Winn Schott Jr.
Series: Starstruck: Karamel One-Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852360
Comments: 12
Kudos: 48





	Geminids

**Author's Note:**

  * For [akane171](https://archiveofourown.org/users/akane171/gifts).



> Begins during the S3 finale. Ends about a thousand years plus a few months later. Skips most of the time in between!
> 
> Canon-compliant through S4, to the best of my ability. S5, perhaps not so much.

_The future needs heroes._ Brainy’s words echoed through Mon-El’s head as he turned away from Kara. He was doing the right thing, the hero thing, what Kara would do. The future needed him. He needed to be in the twenty-first century, hear her laughter, stroke her hair, hold her in his arms, tell her he loved her. Instead he was returning to the future, without Kara, alongside but no longer with Imra.. alone.

 _A man I admire so much._ Kara’s words took the place of Brainy’s as Mon-El walked aimlessly through the corridors of the DEO. Her admiration wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted to hear her say that she wanted him to stay, that she loved him, that the fleeting glance at her heart in the garden on Argo wasn’t his imagination. That she would come with him, or wait for his return, or that somehow this wasn’t the end of their story.

Without conscious thought, Mon-El’s footsteps took him to his old dorm room. The place where Kara had smiled at him and told him she was going to be his mentor and he had started to feel something he’d never felt before. Mon-El sat down on the narrow cot. He’d told Kara that he wanted a heavy cape. He had felt its weight so many times with the Legion, but never quite like today. Mon-El knew he couldn’t stay here long; there was a future to be saved and soon it would be time to leave.

What would Kara do in his place? She would tell him to address his own pain by helping someone else. He had been thinking about Kara being his mentor. Someone else did need his help and advice — Winn. How was Winn dealing with Brainy’s insistence that the future needed him, too? Could he understand what it would mean to leave his home and nearly everyone he knew ( _why did Mon-El have to know that feeling so well_ , a small voice inside of him asked)? Did Winn even know what the future was like? Mon-El stood up and headed to find his friend, determined that Winn wouldn’t have to make his choice alone.

———

 _In case you ever need me._ She needed him now, to laugh with her, run his fingers through her hair, hold her tight, tell her he’d never let her go. But he had to let her go, he had to save the future. And Kara had to put her own feelings aside to help him. She had to let _him_ go. He was still married to Imra, for Rao’s sake! Kara had told Mon-El that she understood, that she admired him. She had put a smile on her face so his last memory of her wouldn’t be tear-stained, like a year ago. Too many goodbyes.

Kara looked up at the sky. The memory of flying next to Mon-El on their search for Pestilence drifted across her mind and her mouth twitched into a small smile. The smile quickly disappeared as the image of Mon-El sacrificing himself to save J’onn flashed before her eyes. She had changed the timeline so it didn’t happen and no one else remembered it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. 

Her feet lifted off the balcony as Kara unconsciously sought the peace of flight. Picking up speed and swiftly crossing the city, she let her mind drift with the feeling of the wind in her hair and the beauty of the twinkling lights below.

———

Rounding a corner in the hallway, Mon-El saw James heading away from him as he passed a pair of DEO agents who were talking quietly. One glanced at him with what looked like sympathy in her eyes. _Was the situation that obvious?_ he thought. _Yeah, it probably was_. He sighed. Finding the room he was looking for, Mon-El looked through the doorway to see Winn with his back to the door, staring at nothing and idly twisting a screwdriver between his fingers. Mon-El cleared his throat.

“Winn. I know Brainy dumped a lot on you. Do you want to talk about it?” Mon-El asked quietly.

Winn turned to face him. “Thanks, man. You’re right, it is a lot. Going to the future? Saving the AIs? I mean, this seems like it’s the chance to be what I was meant to be. It’s the right thing. But still, leaving my friends, my family?”

Mon-El’s eyes went a little unfocused as he looked away from Winn and replied, “Yeah. Leaving is hard.” More emotion crept into his voice than he had intended. Grife, he was here to try and help Winn, not pour his own heart out.

Winn caught the sadness in Mon-El’s voice. “So you _are_ leaving? What about not being able to lose Kara again? You both deserve to be happy, but you’re still married to Imra, and, dude - what are you gonna do?”

It all came spilling out of Mon-El then, the end of his marriage to Imra, his duty to the Legion, the conversation with Kara with so much left unsaid. As Mon-El talked, Winn rummaged in a lab cabinet to find a slightly dusty bottle and a pair of glasses. “I said you needed to come back here so we could have a drink,” he reminded Mon-El as he poured. “Man, was I right.”

“Thanks,” said Mon-El, accepting the glass from his friend. “I came to see if you needed my help, not the other way around.”

“Oh, I do,” Winn replied. “But if you’re really going back, you need mine too.”

“What do you mean?” asked Mon-El as he touched his glass to Winn’s and sipped the drink.

“Look, you and Kara care about each other. You have to leave now, but that doesn’t mean forever, right? You’re both going to live a long time, and time travel is weird - who knows where your future worldlines might cross?”

Mon-El fidgeted with his glass, spinning it back and forth on the table. “When I talked to Kara, I told her I had to go. She understood, said she admired me. She’s moved on, Winn. There’s no more to say.”

“Did you tell Kara what you just told me about Imra?” Winn asked quietly.

“No,” Mon-El admitted. “I didn’t want to make things any harder for her,” his voice trailed off. 

“Always the hero, my ass!” Winn exclaimed, then lowered his voice as he glanced toward the room’s open door. “Look. I know both of you. I’ve seen you look at each other. Kara has _not_ moved on. You need to tell her the whole story, how you really feel and that it doesn’t have to be over.” 

Winn knocked back the contents of his own glass. “I have an idea about how. Come with me. While we get this set up, I have some questions for you about the future.”

Mon-El sensed Winn’s excitement starting to build, whether about whatever he was planning right now or about going to the future he couldn’t tell. His friend’s enthusiasm and curiosity showed as Winn began to pepper Mon-El with questions. Despite his sadness, Mon-El couldn’t help but crack a small grin. With Winn in the Legion, they really could save the AIs. And helping his friend to feel a little less alone in the future might help him feel a little less alone, too.

———

From her reverie about flying with Mon-El — in the skies over National City, in the botanical garden on Argo — Kara’s attention was drawn back to the present by the sound of Winn’s voice in her ear.

“Supergirl, are you there? Supergirl, can you hear me?” It didn’t sound like an emergency but Winn sounded excited about something.

“What is it, Winn?” Kara replied.

“We need you at the DEO. It’s not an emergency, well, it is kinda urgent, I mean, I’m going to the future and we’re leaving soon and I need your help with something.” Winn definitely sounded excited.

“On my way.” Kara’s heart flip-flopped. Winn was going to the future too? She should be happy for him - what an opportunity, to apply his genius, to be his best self, the hero he was meant to be. But Winn was her true friend, her first super-friend - losing him at the same time she was losing Mon-El again?

She landed on the balcony and slipped inside, where Winn was waiting for her. Kara threw her arms around him, careful not to squeeze too tight ( _she wouldn’t have had to worry about that if she’d gotten to hug Mon-El_ , some back part of her mind whispered), and exclaimed “You’re really leaving? Winn I’m so happy for you and I’m going to miss you so much!”

“I know, I know - I can’t believe it either,” Winn replied.

“So what did you need me for?” Kara queried.

“Well,” Winn looked sheepish. “I don’t have a lot of time to pack, or clean out my apartment, and I was hoping to .. borrow.. your super-speed?”

“You got it,” she laughed.

“But first there’s something I need your help with here, OK? Come with me.”

Intrigued, Kara followed Winn though the DEO corridors. He was being very mysterious. But maybe trying to figure out what he was up to would help distract her from the difficulty of keeping a straight, heroic face. The agents of the DEO had just had a major victory. They deserved to celebrate, not see Supergirl looking heartbroken. Following Winn, Kara passed a pair of DEO agents walking in the other direction, talking quietly. Both glanced at her with small, sad smiles. _Was the situation that obvious?_ she thought. _Yeah, it probably was_. She sighed and caught up to Winn.

———About six months later———

Deegan was gone, the Children of Liberty were apparently taking a holiday break, and National City was quiet. Kara and Alex were taking advantage of the calm to spend a few days in Midvale with Eliza, calling it an early Christmas. In their lives, holiday plans didn’t always survive the next crisis, so they celebrated when the opportunity arose.

The drive to Midvale was mostly silent, as the sisters enjoyed the peace of each other’s company. Alex thought about what Kara had told her about her doppelgänger. What would it be like to meet her, to see how she could have had a completely different life? Kara pondered her own life - Alex had mentioned feeling like her life was on hold, but wasn’t Kara’s, too? Facing anti-alien sentiments and the complexities of politics had drained Kara’s emotional energy reserves. She had pushed her feelings about Winn and Mon-El leaving aside, to be dealt with later.

Eliza welcomed them with open arms, hot cocoa, and a lasagna so giant that even Kara’s appetite was challenged. After dinner, the three settled in the living room to exchange gifts: for Eliza, a framed portrait of her daughters taken by James; for Alex, a beautiful set of silver earrings, and for Kara, a new blown-glass vase to replace one shattered in a super-speed clothes-changing incident a few months back.

“Hey, I almost forgot!” Alex exclaimed. “When I moved into the DEO director’s office, I found a package in the desk, labelled ‘Supergirl: Do Not Open Until Xmas’ in Winn’s handwriting.” Alex went to her duffle bag, retrieved a small, colourfully-wrapped box and placed it in Kara’s hands. “I wonder what he was up to? It’s too light to be lead-lined; can you see inside?”

Kara X-rayed the box to see some kind of device, something that definitely had Winn written all over it. “It’s something technical, just like Winn. I wonder how he’s doing?” She smiled thinking of him, then the smile faded as she thought of Mon-El and their unfinished business. Eliza caught Kara’s expression and squeezed her shoulder. 

Unwrapping and opening the box, Kara found a small flat disk, about the size of a drink coaster. She pressed the thumb-sized button near the edge and a hologram appeared above the disk. An image of Mon-El, in his suit as she’d last seen him, just before he left. A recording started to play; Kara touched the button again and the image faded. Kara felt Alex tense at her side. “Oh, sweetie,” Eliza breathed. “Do you want to be by yourself while you see what this is?”

Kara rested her head on her mother’s shoulder while reaching for Alex’s hand. “No, I know what it is. And I think I’ve been alone too much these last few months. I need you both.” She touched the button again. Mon-El’s image reappeared and he began to speak.

“Hi Kara. I hope you see this at Christmas - that was Winn’s plan before we left. Last Christmas I dropped back into your life like a meteorite into a pond and I will never forgive myself for the pain I caused you then.” So serious. Kara gazed into Mon-El’s bottomless gray eyes and wished she could smooth away those worry lines on his forehead.

“I hope that this year you are happy and joyful and smiling that smile only you can. But you’re probably in the middle of some crisis that requires saving the world as only you can. I know you will — and I’m not saying this because I know how it turns out from the future, but just because you’re you. The hero who inspired me from right in front of me and a thousand years away.” Alex put her head on Kara’s shoulder while continuing to hold Kara’s hand.

The recorded Mon-El stopped and took a deep breath. Kara’s breath hitched as Mon-El started to speak again, his voice lower and cracking. _This is ridiculous_ , she thought to herself, _he’s a thousand years away, I have to deal with Agent Liberty, I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. And I can’t do anything for Mon-El._ Kara’s fingers toyed with the Legion ring that hadn’t left her pocket since Mon-El had given it to her.

“And the woman that I will always love. I couldn’t say this to your face, Kara; I have to go and I couldn’t say it and then walk away. I’m not as strong as you are. I want you to know that my heart belongs to you, it’s always and only ever been you. My marriage to Imra is over. I grew to love her but I never felt about her the way I do about you. I hope you still have a place in your heart for me. ” 

In the recording, a few tears were sliding down Mon-El’s face now, the tears he had held in on the balcony. They were matched by Kara’s as she let herself feel what she’d been holding in since Mon-El and Winn left. She could hope for a future with Mon-El. She could dream of feeling his hand on her cheek and the warmth of his embrace, seeing his grin and hearing his chuckle. 

Mon-El paused, looking away from the camera and then back. “Winn says that I should tell you to go and look at the sky for a meteor shower. The same one happens every year around this time when the Earth passes through the debris left by a comet. I’ll be looking for that comet in the future. It’ll remind me of your beautiful blue eyes.”

Wiping her tears, Kara pulled the Legion ring from her pocket and touched the tiny comet on its face. Mon-El continued, “Comets come back, and we’ll come back into each others’ lives someday. Until then and always, you’ll be in my heart, Kara.” He smiled at her as the recording faded to black.

Eliza and Alex wrapped their arms around Kara, to provide the comfort that words couldn’t. Kara squeezed them back, gently, then rose from the couch to find her way across the room to the patio door and the night sky.

———A thousand years and a few months later———

A lull in the fight against Brainiac meant that the Legion could take a brief break to recuperate. Winn stood on the balcony at Legion headquarters, staring into the sky. Mon-El looked up from the preparations for the solstice gathering to notice Winn alone and slipped outside to quietly join him.

“What’s on your mind?” Mon-El asked.

Winn sighed. “A year ago, I could never have imagined where I’d be now. I mean, my life was already unbelievable, with Supergirl, and then the DEO, the first time I went off-world, Lyra, Guardian. But this.. I’m in the future. Everything is so different. It doesn’t feel like home yet. And it feels like we have so far to go in fighting Brainiac. Am I making a difference?”

Mon-El looked at his friend. “Winn, you are one of the reasons we are going to win the fight against Brainiac. Your ideas and your heart are making a difference.” He reached out to clasp Winn’s shoulder. “I know that feeling like you don’t quite have a home is hard. Believe me, I know. But you’re part of this family now too,” Mon-El said as he gave Winn’s shoulder a gentle pat. They exchanged the small smiles of friends who were finding in each other the brother that neither had ever had. 

“Thanks, buddy,” Winn replied. He turned his attention back to the sky, where a few streaks of light were beginning to mark the darkness. 

“Hey.. is this the meteor shower you told me about before we left?” Mon-El asked. His face showed a mix of emotions as he thought about the message Winn had insisted he leave for Kara and the unfinished business that went along with it.

Winn grinned. “It is. And that reminds me, I have something for you. Happy solstice, Mon-El.” Winn removed a small flat disk, about the size of a drink coaster, from his pocket, handed it to Mon-El, and turned to go inside. “I’ll leave you to it while I go find us a drink.”

Mon-El turned the disk over in his hand, thinking about Kara’s eyes and comets. Was this what he thought it was? Could he keep it together if he heard her voice, saw her face again? There was only one way to find out. He pushed the button near the disk’s edge as his other hand unconsciously fidgeted with the necklace he still wore. 

“Mon-El. Happy solstice,” Kara said, gazing at him through the hologram. Mon-El’s heart skipped a beat. She was so absolutely beautiful that even in a hologram she could still do that to him. “Winn convinced me that I should tell you what was really on my mind and promised me he’d get this message to you. I hope you’re safe and happy, wherever this finds you.”

Kara bit her bottom lip nervously, as he had seen her do so many times, then spoke again, more softly. “I know you had to go,” she began, “and I respect that choice, as I respect the hero you’ve become. I didn’t want to make it harder for you to go, but you deserve to know: you’re not the only one who’s been lying to yourself. Renewing our friendship these past few months has been wonderful — but I want more than that, Mon-El.” His breath caught in his chest as the recorded Kara paused.

She took a deep breath and continued, “after Argo, I know that now. My Mom knew it — she saw us and said ‘he makes you happy’ and she’s right. You said that I’d moved on from us, but that’s not true. I still care about you and I want to make you happy too. I want us to be partners, not just as heroes, but in life. I love you, Mon-El.” A few tears slipped down Kara’s cheeks. The indelible memory of their parting in the field eight years and a millennium ago flashed across Mon-El’s mind as his heart seized in his chest.

Kara spoke again. “I don’t know where you left things with Imra, but I know you would never hurt her. You’re too good a man. So I don’t know where that leaves us. Mon-El, I don’t think our story is over - and if our futures let us, I hope we can turn the page and start again.” Mon-El’s hand tightened on the necklace, as if to embrace it the way he couldn’t embrace her. 

In the recording Kara’s face softened as her eyes shone. “Wasn’t I the one who said that being in love and being a hero weren’t easy? I should take my own advice. Be well, Mon-El. You’re in my heart always.” Kara smiled the brilliant smile that Mon-El still saw in his dreams.

The recording ended. Mon-El let go of the necklace to touch the Legion ring on his hand. He stared at the sky, thinking of comets. Which always come back around.

———

Mon-El and Kara gazed at the Earth’s sky from centuries apart, watching the tiny streaks of light appear and fade like brief moments of happiness in a dark world. Thanks to both of them, the world was still spinning, still tracing its path around the yellow sun through the crises and the darkness. Their arrivals as refugees on this world had brought them together; for now, their duties as heroes kept them apart. Their hearts were separated by time but not eternity. Both held the certainty that they would find each other again, someday.

Kao’shuh.

**Author's Note:**

> This story owes a debt to the many others that re-imagine the S3 ending, in particular Chassycat’s “A Lofty Farewell” and aprincessofdaxam’s “the thing about comets.” Both are well worth your time.
> 
> The Geminids are a real meteor shower that occurs around mid-December, when the Earth passes through the trail of the unusual “rock comet” 3200/Phaethon. (Hmm, maybe Phaethon is Argo City?) The meteors appear to originate from the constellation Gemini, and I thought that the constellation of the twins was a nice match for the attempted symmetry in the story.


End file.
